Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in various cell signaling pathways that are necessary for cell growth and survival. Correlations have been shown between misregulation of ROS and various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. Hydrogen peroxide has been a focus of research geared toward understanding ROS in health and disease because it is a relatively long-lived ROS; thus, it is able to travel through a cell or even across cell membranes before it reacts with a target biomolecule.
Various efforts have been made to detect hydrogen peroxide. For example, fluorescent scaffolds with boronate detection groups have been synthesized for the examination of hydrogen peroxide in cellular systems. Chemiluminescent probes based on peroxalate nanoparticles or on luminol, have been developed.
There remains a need in the field for compounds and methods of detecting ROS, including hydrogen peroxide.
Literature
WO 2007/050810; WO 2009/152102; Lee et al. (2007) Nat. Mater. 6765; Gross et al. (2009) Nat. Med. 15:455; Kielland et al. (2009) Free Radical Biol. Med. 47:760.